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Configuration and sizing recommendations

Sizing summary and recommendations

RStudio Product

Minimum

Recommended

RStudio Server Pro

2 core / 4G

4 - 16 core / 8G - 256G

RStudio Connect

2 core / 4G

8 - 16 core / 32G - 128G

Shiny Server Pro

2 core / 4G

4 - 8 core / 4G - 64G

Recommendations

RStudio Pro products run on Linux servers and require R to be installed first. By default, R is a single threaded process that holds all its data in memory. Our products have relatively small footprints, therefore the minimum requirements for running RStudio products depends mostly on R. An minimum instance with 2 cores and 4G of memory is enough to support multiple concurrent R processes as well as our products.

We recommend more cores and more memory for best use of our products. The main drivers that determine server size include: number and size of concurrent R sessions. The number of R developers and end users can help determine the number of concurrent R sessions. The amount of data your organization uses with R will determine the size of those sessions.

For example, 2-3 data scientists who with a million records and build small applications will probably require a small server. A team of 15 data scientists who work with big data and deliver results to dozens of end users will require a large server.

These recommendations are guidelines only. Your may require more resources if your requirements are greater. If you are using virtual machines that have memory caps, you may require multiple instances. Our products are designed to scale across multiple instances.

RStudio Server Pro

Hardware Configuration

Recommended setup is a production cluster with two or more RStudio Server Pro instances. The instances can be clustered together with a built in load balancer. Note: an RStudio cluster balances user sessions as opposed to R jobs. A cluster setup requires a shared home mount. Users can access their data via ODBC connections or shared file servers. Also recommended is a test server to help with administering the environment.

Hardware Sizing

The most important drivers for sizing the environment are (1) the number of concurrent R sessions; and (2) the average sessions size. R is memory intensive, so it’s best to get as much RAM as possible. If you use virtual machines you might have restrictions on how much memory you can allocate to a single instance. In that case we recommend getting as much memory as possible and consider using multiple nodes.

Minimum (2 core / 4G). This server will be for testing and sandboxing.

Small (4 core / 8G). This server will support one or two analysts with tiny data.

Large (16 core / 256G). This server will support 15 analysts with a blend of session sizes. Alternatively, it will support dozens of analysts with very small sessions.

RStudio Connect

Hardware Configuration

RStudio Connect can be installed as a single server deployment or setup in a load balanced, highly available cluster. RStudio Connect is designed to host all of the work your team publishes with R. That includes documents, apps, APIs, and plots. In addition to hosting, RStudio Connect can also schedule reports and automate simple workflows that depend on R. RStudio Connect can be configured to send out emails on a regular schedule on behalf of users.

Hardware Sizing

RStudio Connect's hardware specifications will depend on the number and type of applications, documents, and analysis running on the server. Standard specifications for a production server might range from 8-16 cores and 32-128 GB of RAM. Some workloads may require substantially larger servers. We highly recommend consulting with the R programmers to determine the resources required to run the Shiny applications and automated R Markdown processes.

Minimum (2 core / 4G). This server is good for testing.

Small (8 core / 32G). This server will support plenty of lightweight Shiny apps, plumber APIs, and simple R Markdown documents. For example, you might have a small team of data scientists who build small apps and post static documents for 20 end users.

Large (16 core / 128G). This server will support large apps and complex R artifacts. For example, you might have a large team of data scientists who build large apps and schedule complex documents for 100 end users.

Cluster Setting up 2 or more nodes allows for job distribution across the cluster and high availability. Cluster configurations require a Postgres DB and shared storage.

Shiny Server Pro

Hardware Configuration

Recommended setup is a high availability cluster with two or more Shiny Server Pro instances. Also recommended is a staging server for testing apps before they are deployed into production. Shiny Server Pro is essentially a web server with an R backend. Each production server should have the same app directory and configuration. You must provide your own sticky load balancer, which is required to restore user connections. Your data may be stored in the app directory itself, or it may be connected to the app via ODBC.

Hardware Sizing

The most important driver for sizing Shiny Server Pro is the average app size. If you are hosting lightweight apps, you can support a dozen end users on small instance. If you are orchestrating long running computation with your apps, you will need much larger resources. Shiny Server Pro gives you the ability to create multiple R processes for a single app. That means you have the ability to scale your applications to large audiences or isolate individual processes to authenticated users.

Minimum (2 core / 4G). This server is useful for testing and staging.

Small (4 core / 4G). This server can support many lightweight apps for a dozen end users. You will want to share one R process for multiple connections.

Large (8 core / 64G). This server can support lightweight apps for dozens of end users.

Other.For applications that run a long time or orchestrate complex workloads, see RStudio Server Pro recommendations. You will probably use one R process per connection.

Notes

Download R

You must install R before installing any RStudio product. RStudio does not ship or support R. RStudio products will work with any version of R including, CRAN, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.

Linux

RStudio Professional products run the linux operating system.

45 Day Evaluation

All RStudio Professional products offer a 45 day evaluation.

Professional Features

All RStudio Professional products support enterprise authentication and security. They are designed to scale with your organization. And they are supported by our team. Each product has a host of additional features to make these tools enterprise ready. For more information see the products online.